


Proposition

by Truly_Hopeless



Series: Cabin in the Woods AU [2]
Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga), The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Horror, Birthday, Dirty Thoughts, Gods, Good Yagami Light, L is Kind of Evil Here, Light is Getting Catfished, Some of the Characters are Monsters in Disguise, Support Group, Telepathy, Ulterior Motives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:49:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28277916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Truly_Hopeless/pseuds/Truly_Hopeless
Summary: During the first support group meeting, Light is approached by one of the members who offers to help fund his efforts to find the people behind the disasters.
Relationships: L/Yagami Light
Series: Cabin in the Woods AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972654
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. Meeting

Light smiled as he looked around the room. Twelve people sat before him. A good start for this group, a group that he hoped would be able to find the way to take down the ones responsible for these disasters. He just hoped that he'd be able to find a better place for future meetings; the Yagami living room was serviceable for now, but Light could imagine it easily getting crowded if more people joined and the apartment he was considering moving into soon wouldn't be much better.

"Thank you all for coming. As this is our first meeting, I would like for you all to introduce yourselves. State your name and tell everyone a little about the incident or incidents you've survived, as well as any additional information you would like to share at your own discretion. I'll start. My name is Light Yagami and I've been through a lot last year and I've been forced to reevaluate everything I previously believed to be true. My first and arguably worst incident was last January, where an unidentified man murdered my friends and nearly chopped my arm off. It's all better now, but it caused me quite a few problems when I got caught up in another incident a few months later; let's just say that if I didn't have two very good friends fighting alongside me, I'd be at the bottom of the ocean. I'm determined to find the person or persons responsible for these attacks, especially now that they're targeting my family, not just me. I hope to join the police and work alongside my father and am currently studying at a university in order to do that."

"I am Souichirou Yagami and my entire family has been under attack for several months now because my son and I have been looking into these incidents. But we were expecting this and prepared for it so the attackers have not been successful in picking us off. They will not deter us from finding the ones responsible and making them face legal consequences for what they've done to Light and so many others."

"I'm Light's mother, Sachiko Yagami, and I was hoping that cooking was the only thing I'd be using the knives for, but since people keep breaking into our house, I had to get creative in order to keep all of us safe. Don't worry about tonight's food though; I got new cooking equipment specifically for this occasion so you shouldn't find anything in the salmon or the cake that shouldn't be there."

"I'm Sayu Yagami, Light's sister, and I don't like that someone's trying to kill us all the time. I wish I could go back to math homework being the only thing to worry about, but hey, the next time my friends accuse me of being too girly, I can tell them that I knocked a full grown man out with a curling iron when he broke into my room."

With the introductions of the family out of the way, that left the nine people who came over for this meeting.

Four of them Light already met: Misa Amane and Quillsh Wammy were on the cruise ship with him during the kraken attack and each had their own additional encounters and grievances (Misa lost most of her family to a fisherman with a hook and Quillsh, who disclosed to Light that he was a non-human traveler from another dimension, had taken it upon himself to interfere whenever children were involved with these attacks), he met Mihael "Mello" Keehl, a lycanthrope, four months ago when he saw his painful first transformation and, with Quillsh's help, managed to subdue and hide him from the authorities until he turned back into a human, and Touta Matsuda was a colleague of his father's and a frequent ally of Light's during the attacks (what Matsuda lacked in brains he made up for in his excellent shooting skills) who would often meet with Light whenever both were free to discuss theories on who was behind the attacks.

Two of them, Kiyomi Takada and Teru Mikami, were people Light had seen at To-Oh (the former being a transfer student from Greece and the latter the new law professor who also works as a prosecutor) but had not spoken with before. Takada claimed that she and fourteen tourists were trapped in a labyrinth with seemingly no exit and a minotaur for a week before she escaped through a hole in the wall the minotaur had made and Mikami revealed he was once held captive by a female vampire in Transylvania for six months and that she abused him in nearly every sense of the word before he managed to kill her; while Light felt that there was something in both stories that they were leaving out (Takada's story in particular felt familiar since he remembered finding a minotaur in Greece and had at some point tricked it into smashing into a wall where it made a hole that he later used as an exit, but he did not remember seeing anyone in the maze with him [alive, at least]), he decided not to press them on it, feeling that it would be best if they came forward on their own.

The last three were completely new to Light: a boy who held a wooden box that he kept glancing down at anxiously, a serious looking but pretty woman, and an odd man who sat with his bare feet on the armchair cushion and his knees tucked up to his chin and occasionally stared at Light with his large dark eyes. Light didn't know why, but he felt a little uneasy whenever he saw him looking his way.

When it came down to them to introduce themselves, the boy went first, keeping a hand firmly on top of the box. "Uh, hi. My name is Minoru Tanaka. I feel I lived a pretty normal life until three weeks ago. I found this jewel and accidentally cracked it open. Out came a Djinn named Ryuk who said he'd grant me three wishes and also grant one wish to each of my friends. At first, I thought it was great: my family got a nicer home, I started getting As on my tests instead of Fs, and my friends' lives also improved. However, I soon learned that the wishes are twisted; while they come true, they either come at a terrible cost or are loosely interpreted in a way you wouldn't want to happen. Wish for ten million yen? You receive it as life insurance when someone close to you dies. Wish to be young again? You start aging backwards until you wake up as a baby. And when I tried asking him why he was doing this, Ryuk said that once I make my third wish, he's going to kill me and everyone else who made a wish.

"I've tried ignoring him, thinking that as long as I never make my third wish nothing bad can happen, but he just continued going out to scam more people. I also tried destroying the jewel he came out of while he was inside it, but all that did was make him angry. I managed to placate him with apples, but I doubt he will be satisfied forever. So I'm hoping that by joining this group I can find a way to undo the wishes and send Ryuk back so that no one has to die."

"So where is the Djinn now?" Mikami asked. Before Tanaka could answer, the box in his hands began to shake violently and a voice started screeching.

"WAKER! How dare you trap me in here while I was sleeping! Let me out of here right now or I'll tear out your left kidney and force-feed it to you when I break out!" Minoru sighed before undoing the latch and lifting the lid. A puff of black smoke came from the box and soon a tall, pale creature with spiky hair, clawed hands, and sharp teeth materialized in front of everyone. He looked around the room and let out a chuckle. "How very interesting."

"Ryuk," Tanaka said warningly, "if you trick any of these people into making wishes, I'm not buying you apples for a month."

Ryuk scoffed. "Buzzkill. But no matter; with the way this group is shaping up, I won't need to use my magic in order to be entertained." He sat down near Sayu (who scooted as far away from him as the couch would allow) and expectantly waited for the next person to speak.

The woman went next. "My name is Shoko Maki. About ten years ago, when I was eighteen and still living in America, my friends and I decided to spend the night in an abandoned asylum that was said to be haunted. It was stupid and likely not legal, but we didn't care, we wanted to be able say we did something daring before we graduated and didn't think anything bad would happen to us. But, about halfway through the night, we were attacked by ghouls that were lurking in the basement and hadn't eaten for who knows how long. I was the only survivor, which perplexed me because my friends were smart and strong and fast, more so than me at the time. Why was I, a weak and sheltered high school student, spared but not them?

"After the police found no proof of what happened and I had a month long fight with my parents to not be institutionalized, I started investigating. The only one who helped and believed in me was my boyfriend Raye, but even he felt that I was wasting my time trying to find meaning in this tragedy, constantly telling me that I should let it go, be happy that I survived, and focus on my studies at college and my future. But I couldn't stop. Then they got to him and killed him. The police classed it as a suicide and refused to investigate further. I stopped my own investigations, feeling guilty that my meddling had gotten him killed. After some time, I had convinced myself that what happened was just a bad dream that I had and I became an FBI agent in order to take down the 'real' monsters instead of chasing a fantasy. But now that I know that I wasn't crazy and other people are realizing that there's something wrong, I decided to come here in order to help you uncover the truth so that Raye and the others will not have died in vain."

The way she was able to speak of her experience so calmly, with only a few tears leaking out when she mentioned Raye, moved Light and it appeared to also move everyone else in the group. Well, almost everyone; Ryuk burst out laughing moments after she finished her story.

"Oh, fuck off!" Mello snarled, glaring at the Djinn. "It's one thing if you don't care about what happens to us, but the least you can do is keep your opinions to yourself."

Ryuk continued to laugh until Light cleared his throat.

"We're happy to have you here, Ms. Maki. I'm sorry that you had to go through all that alone. I'm sure that with your help and experience, we'll be able to find out who is behind all this."

Maki smiled.

Now it was the strange man's turn. He glanced at Light again before standing up, still remaining hunched over.

"I'm Ryuzaki. To be honest, I haven't ever been attacked, but I have been aware of strange and terrible things happening for a long time. The dead being reanimated, creatures from mythology appearing in broad daylight, even average people having their minds warped to such a degree that they would murder their friends and family at the slightest provocation. It's likely an organization behind everything since no single person could manage to do all this and do so in every country without getting caught. They are truly monstrous and up until now have been good at covering their tracks; most of these incidents are passed off as natural disasters or one of the survivors, if there are any, is framed for the murder and anyone who tries to speak up is ridiculed, incarcerated, and, if they become a further nuisance, killed.

"But starting last year, the organization has become sloppy; the events are happening more frequently, their frame-ups are becoming less believable with injuries done to the survivor that are nearly impossible to be self-inflicted or leaving behind a weapon that has none of the victims' fingerprints, and people are now recording the incidents on their phones. While some people can brush the footage off as being part of a cleverly edited film project and say that these stories are fabrications created to save dying tabloids like Sakura TV, the public is beginning to recognize that there is something wrong, especially when their family members are sent home in body bags or as stone statues. So I've decided that, rather than continuing to watch from the sidelines to see who will win, I'd like to do whatever I can to help you back them into a corner and unmask them so that the suffering can end."

There was a long moment of silence in the room; everyone looked unnerved and confused at Ryuzaki's words and a couple of people shot suspicious looks toward the man as if a third eye just grew on his head. Even Ryuk was silent, though an observant participant would be able to see a glimmer of excitement in the Djinn's eyes.

Light, while composed on the outside, felt his heart racing and he had a strong urge to ask his father to have the man taken in for questioning.

_Who is this guy?! How does he know so much about what is going on when he never went through any of this himself?! Why is he speaking of this as if it were a game?! And the comment about statues, he must mean the cockatrice! I haven't told anyone else about that yet. Has he been spying on me?! Is he one of the people behind this?!_

He realized that the others were waiting for him to say something so he hastily said, "Any information you have will be helpful. Thank you, Ryuzaki."

"You're welcome, Light."

Another chill went down Light's spine.

_Please don't let allowing him to stay here be a mistake._

"Okay. This first meeting is for us to get to know each other. Future meetings will happen once every two weeks and we will share all information that we have learned about the people behind this and report any new incidents. There will also be planned expeditions to other countries with high levels of suspicious incidents, but only members who are eighteen years old or older will be allowed to volunteer."

"Aw, c'mon Light!"

"No, Sayu. If anything were to happen to you, I wouldn't forgive myself. And I don't want to have to tell anyone else's parents why their child won't be coming home if they were to die." _I do that enough times already with unfortunate bystanders like Timothy or Alex._ "With that being said, if you happen to come across an event and it's going to take awhile for help to arrive, do whatever you have to do to keep yourself and others safe. If you could all provide your cell phone numbers, that would help to alert other members of the group if something happens so they can come to your aid or help evacuate the area. Any questions?"

Misa raised her hand.

"Yes Misa?"

"How are we going to recruit more people? Thirteen is a good start, but it's not going to be enough to find and stop the bad guys, especially if it's some big global conspiracy like Ryuzaki suggests. How do we get the word out there without either letting the organization know that we're onto them or getting discredited?"

"Getting the public on our side will take a long time to happen since there are still people who refuse to acknowledge what is happening right in front of them and unfortunately quite a few of them hold positions of power; that's why the ad for this meeting did not explicitly mention monsters or axe-murderers or cover-ups, just asked for people who are survivors of any form of violence to come forward. So for now, we will stick to finding and reaching out to more survivors and try to convince them to join our group. They can be people who survived an attack or seemingly natural disaster by the skin of their teeth or someone who is not all human but is a victim of violence or exploitation, especially if their loss of humanity is a result of that. Just invite them to come to one of the meetings and if they come, we'll welcome them to join the fight. And as for keeping this a secret from the people responsible for the attacks, it is not going to last; odds are, they already know and are starting to put plans in motion to dismantle us. All we can do is stay alert and make sure that we are not compromised; if you see someone in our group beginning to behave erratically or if you find unexplained surveillance cameras in your homes, call me immediately. And if the compromised person is me, go to my father or whoever else is available so that I don't endanger any of you."

"Okay. It probably won't be easy, but I'll try to reach out to my sister since I'm sure she wants justice for our parents and baby brother's deaths too."

"Good. Now, if there are no further questions, that concludes the business portion of this meeting."

* * *

The rest of the meeting passed without any further incidents, unless you consider Ryuk taking half the apple fritters and eating them in less than a minute atrocious. The other members of the group seemed to be getting along pretty well for the most part (though Misa and Takada appeared to have met before and took turns sniping at each other and Mello seemed particularly irritable when Mikami started asking him questions about his condition).

The one person who seemed to not be talking to anyone else in the group was Ryuzaki, who sat in a corner of the room eating a large slice of cake and just observing everyone.

Light, not wanting him to feel alienated (even if he still found him suspicious), decided to go over to him.

"Mind if I sit with you?"

"No, not at all," he said around a mouthful of cake.

Light sat down next to him.

Ryuzaki swallowed before speaking again.

"So how old did you turn today?"

"Huh?"

"It's your birthday today, isn't it?"

"It is, but how...?"

"Your mother seemed to put a lot of care into preparing food for tonight's meeting; it probably would have been easier and less time-consuming to just buy ready-made food from the supermarket, but she chose to cook everything and bake a cake on top of it all. So I figured that there must be a special occasion other than this being the first meeting and I doubted it was another family member's birthday or her wedding anniversary because they probably wouldn't want to have it happen on the same day and at the same time as this meeting since very few people would want to have their celebration overshadowed by an important meeting. Plus, I saw Miss Amane take a small wrapped package out of her coat pocket when she went upstairs to go to the bathroom. That combined with everything else led me to conclude that it's your birthday and you made the decision not to announce it."

Light gave a short laugh, hoping that Ryuzaki couldn't detect his nervousness. "Well, I can't argue with that logic. I turned nineteen today. And you're right that I just didn't want to announce it; getting this group together so we can begin investigating these incidents was more important to me than just another birthday. Though Mom did insist on cooking everything and baking a cake instead of just letting me buy chips, cookies, and soda for the meeting like I initially planned."

"I feel she made the right call for this meeting. While I'll take anything as long as it's sweet, I prefer cake to cookies any day and she did very well with this cake."

"I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that."

There were a couple of minutes of silence as Ryuzaki continued eating cake and Light considered his next words.

"So, about what you said during your introduction. You mentioned people being sent home as stone statues. I recently came across a creature known as a cockatrice that could turn people into stone, but I haven't told anyone else about it. Was there an earlier cockatrice attack that I was unaware of that you witnessed or were you there during the attack I was involved with?"

"Hmm, I'd say it's a little of both. As I said, I've been aware of these incidents for a long time and have been documenting what I've seen or heard. And yes, Light, that includes events you have involved yourself in, the most recent being a cockatrice that was set loose to wreak havoc in Shirakawa. The sheer number of things you've done in the last year is what compelled me to come out to meet you."

Light's heart started to beat rapidly again. "How? I've never seen you before and as I said, I haven't told anyone else about the cockatrice yet."

Ryuzaki set his plate down. "Promise to keep this information to yourself if I tell you how I know?"

_Should I trust him? What if he's with the organization?_

"Sure."

Ryuzaki leaned in close to Light's ear and whispered two words: "I'm L."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will try to get second chapter out soon. I just needed to get this out there before the document expired.


	2. The Offer

_L? As in the greatest detective of the 21st century? Holy shit!_

_Well, that would explain how he knows all that he does. From what I understand, he does a lot of his investigations in secret and then provides the evidence to investigators so that they can act on it._ _He's also very particular about what he chooses to investigate and who he helps so him showing interest in these incidents is a good sign. Though I wasn't expecting him to be so young; L's been active for about 15 years, yet he looks like he's in his mid-twenties._

_But can I be sure he's being honest? L has never shown his face to the public. Why would he reveal himself to me? He could easily just be a member of the organization impersonating L just to get me to lower my guard._

_That'd take a lot of gall considering the rumors I've heard of what happened to people who've falsely claimed to be L in the past. Either way, there has to be some way to prove if he's telling the truth._

_Still, L! Here! In my parents' living room! Oh my God!_

L had to stop himself from laughing at that one. _Oh, Light, if only you knew._ These were several of the thoughts passing through the young man's head and L enjoyed seeing them flicker in his eyes while keeping a straight face. It was much better than watching him from a hotel room.

"I'm sure you have some questions. Shall we go somewhere more private?"

"Of course."

As they went upstairs, L glanced backwards and saw the suspicious glares of Mello and "Shoko Maki" shot in his direction.

_If this freak does anything to hurt Light, I'll tear his face off!_

_Who is this man? How much does he know? He could jeopardize everything if he has Kira's ear!_

L smirked. _This will be fun._

They arrived at Light's bedroom and, after closing the door behind them, both sat down, Light at the chair near his desk and L on the bed.

"Is it true that you're L? Forgive me if I sound skeptical, but--"

"You're worried that I'm a member of the organization behind these attacks and that I'm only pretending to be L to gain your trust and later betray you. It's fine; if our roles were reversed, I'd probably be suspicious of you." _Though you could stand to be a little more skeptical; there actually is a traitor and you welcomed her with open arms, and despite only half the group being human and you being aware of that possibility, you are not going to pressure them to come clean about who they are and that could pose a risk to you and others if you're not careful, especially the vampire and the siren._ "If you need someone to confirm that I am who I say I am, you can ask your friend Quillsh Wammy. In addition to his work as an inventor and looking after orphans, he often assists me during my investigations and has known me since I was a child."

Light nodded. "I will do that. If you are telling the truth, it is an honor to meet you. I've heard about many of the great things you've done over the years and you've helped my father on many cases."

"It's no problem. Seeing justice prevail and uncovering how the criminals operate is a reward in and of itself. Which is why I'm here; I'd like to offer you my support and help in taking the organization down."

L saw another barely suppressed shudder from Light and heard more of his thoughts all at once.

_L wants to help me? I should feel relieved, but..._

_I still need to make sure this is L. Until_ _Quillsh_ _can confirm that what he says is true, I have to be cautious;_ _Ryuzaki_ _could still be working with the organization and this claim of wanting to support me could be a pretense to get me alone so that he can kill me._

_Or kidnap me and keep me somewhere, and he may not even need to be with the organization to be able to or even want to do that. He keeps looking at me and I can't figure out why. Does he hate me? Or is it...something else?_

_And do I want it to be "something else?" While it is unsettling to think that someone wants me in_ _**that** _ _way when they barely know me especially when I've seen that people who have sex have a harder time surviving during an attack, it's probably easier to deal with someone like that than someone who wants to hurt me. And, well, maybe I wouldn't mind if we..._

L again had to stop himself from laughing. He also had to stop himself from pulling Light from his chair, pinning him to the bed, and kissing him roughly as he removed his clothes. _How well would you be able to keep quiet if I were to take you right now, Light? With your family and the others just downstairs?_ But he knew now was not the right time; while he didn't buy into the myth of people losing their purity when they become sexually active, it wasn't safe for them to be intimate at the moment since an assassin could be sent to the house at any moment and take advantage of Light's disorientation or Naomi would find out and try to use this affair against "Kira." Not to mention that doing so now, when Light wasn't completely sure if he could trust him (he shouldn't, but L needed him to in order for his plan to work) and only had a tenuous attraction to L the detective, would drive the man away and possibly get the god sent to prison (which L could easily escape without injury, but being convicted of a crime would mean that he would have to return "home" and not be able to come back to Earth for several centuries [likely longer, since Watari and Nu would not be happy with him if he forced himself on a human]). L would have plenty of time to play with Light later, when they were in a more secure place away from potential attackers and prying eyes and after he and Light had gotten to know each other better.

 _Focus! I still don't know if he's actually L and even if he is, I don't know if I can accept his help; him being the greatest detective in the world likely means he charges a lot for his services and I had to work about twenty odd jobs just to go to Greece for one week._ _And even if money's not a problem, that brings me back to this concern: what's **his** end goal? Why is he only choosing now to act if he's known for years and has had the means to do it?_

"Ryuzaki, this is a very generous offer, but I'm not sure if..."

"You don't have to worry about paying me back, Light. I want this organization gone as much as you do and I would be a fool to not include you for something as inconsequential as money. Call it a birthday present if you're still worried."

"But why...?"

"Why did I not act sooner? Money and power can only get you so far if you're the only one aware of and willing to go up against evil, especially when people do not like some of the means I use to reach the end of a case. And while I am stronger than I look and am aware of what I need to look out for I doubt I would get very far on my own." This was a lie, of course; he could destroy anything in the blink of an eye if he wanted to, and that included the Human Survival Foundation if the arrangement failed like he hoped it would, he just found that boring. "Most people who have survived these attacks in the past are unwilling to come forward out of fear that they either won't be believed or be victimized a second or even third time. They keep to themselves and, outside of half-hearted warnings to stay away from this place or that person, never do anything to help others." _And some of them, like Naomi, end up working for the very people who victimized them after being manipulated into believing this is the only way to protect humanity, even if it forces them to sacrifice the people they love._

"But you, Light, refused to lie down and you're working to get other survivors together to put a stop to the attacks. Cracks are beginning to show as the organization tries and fails to silence you and the previously fearful survivors are now coming out of hiding. You are the type of person I need in order to stand a chance against them. You have actual experience fighting their forces, you have an understanding that people don't necessarily have to be human to be victims, and you make sure to save as many people as you can. This has allowed you to become a symbol of hope for a lot of people, has allowed them to believe that this system can be beaten. Together, we can reach more people and finally put an end to this nightmare and fix everything."

Light's face flushed slightly and in his mind was a collection of confused, embarrassed, and elated thoughts that would take too long for L to sort through, but he was glad that his words had the desired effect on Light: ease his fears (for now) with an acceptable (if mostly fraudulent) explanation for his inaction and give the man's ego a little boost since the god knew he needed it.

"Okay. Thank you, Ryuzaki."

"When it's just the two of us, call me L."

"Okay, L."

They shook hands. L felt heat pass through his body as their skin touched and from the way Light's blush deepened he likely felt it too.

"Now, the first thing we need is a more secure place to conduct our meetings. Since you and your family have been fending off assassins sent to your home for several months now, it likely wouldn't be ideal to you to continue holding meetings here, especially when more members are welcomed into the group."

"I was thinking the same thing. The problem is that I doubt that many venues would allow us to rent their space for meetings like this and even if they did I wouldn't want there to be too much attention on what we're doing; even if the organization already knows, that doesn't mean that we should broadcast our plans in broad daylight."

"Thankfully, I may have a solution. You see, several months ago I arranged for a building to be built here in Japan to act as a base of operations for longer and more complex investigations. It's almost complete and since I would consider this an investigation, I believe that it would be a secure location for future meetings." _And while I don't think the Director will try, I will make sure that Naomi can't do anything to compromise our safety._ "There are also enough bedrooms to accommodate 60 people so if anyone in this group needs a place to stay they can come to me. This includes you, Light."

"Me?"

"Of course. You're an adult and you care about the safety of your family. The thought of moving out has likely crossed your mind at some point."

"It has. If I were to move out, there would be less people going after my family since I'm no longer here. And, if we are able to stop the people behind this, it would be nice to have my own place and make my own decisions."

 _While my family is great, I feel I've always been holding myself back for their sake, trying to be the perfect son for them. I have interests that have nothing to do with academics, criminal justice, or politics--writing, theatre, and baking_ (L fought back a smile) _among other things--and I want to be able to explore relationships with guys as well as girls, but I've been unable to talk about or act on any of this because of what my parents might say._ (L made a note to probe the minds of the parents in question; finding out how they felt about bisexuality and their son's life outside of their expectations for him may help in getting Light to be more open.)

"I have been looking and I managed to find an apartment in a relatively safe part of town, but the problem is that I don't know how to go about telling my parents that I want to move out so that they'll let me go before the place is taken."

_They'll probably argue that it's safer for all of us if we stay together for now, say that even with a roommate that is aware of the danger and capable of fighting off attackers like Matsuda or Mello (which could spark further arguments against me moving out considering what happens to him during the full moon) that I'll be in more danger than I would if I stayed here._

"Your father and Mr. Matsuda work for the NPA, correct?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I plan to reveal my face to several members of the NPA soon, including those two, and tell them about the headquarters. Afterwards, if you are still having difficulty convincing your family to let you move out and you're unable to get the apartment you want, I can talk to your father and convince him to let you stay at headquarters. With how secure the building is and other experienced people around to help you in the event of an attack, I'm sure he'll say yes." _If he won't listen to reason... well, I have another way to get people to see my point of view._

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to be a bother."

"You won't be. We're in this together so I'll do whatever I can to help you."

"Thank you again, L."

"You're welcome, Light. We should probably go back downstairs before someone comes looking for us. Let's talk again soon."

* * *

"Lawliet, what exactly do you have planned for Light Yagami?"

L and Watari had returned to the hotel and were in L's room. Nu wasn't at the hotel at that time, a note explaining that she had gone out to escape the noise of the arguing couple in the suite across the hall from them (whether the current silence was because the couple had stopped fighting or because Nu was the only one to hear it in the first place because of her power was anyone's guess). Otherwise, she would likely be asking L this question as well.

"I told you, I wanted to help Light Yagami dismantle the the Human Survival Foundation."

"You and I know very well that is not the only thing you want. You know what will happen if Light is successful, that everyone on this planet--regardless of age or species--will be at the mercy of all the other gods as they reshape the Earth how they want with very little we can do to stop them and that there has been a limit to how many people we can save since the division. Do you intend to protect Light and his family when that happens or are you going to abandon him once he's played his part?"

L sighed. While he respected this god, who had been around longer than he had (both in existence and in staying on Earth), he did not like how inquisitorial Watari was and that unlike Nu he would not accept anything less than the absolute truth. He was also one of the few gods against Earth's destruction; he only interfered with HSF's plans when they started sacrificing children.

"I like Light. He has a strong sense of justice, is sensible, and is just altogether _beautiful_ , Watari. I do want to keep him and I have no plans on hurting his family, but I also want to test him, see how he measures up against us."

Watari's eyes widened. "So you want him to challenge the three of us to a duel. You want to know if he can destroy us and take our place."

"Yes."

"And I presume that, unlike me, you have not told him that you are not from this world?"

"That is correct."

There was a long silence as the older god took it in.

Finally, he spoke again. "Very well. I'll allow you to play your game with Light, but I'm warning you: nothing good can come from a betrayal of this degree. It will breed nothing but hatred and misery regardless of the outcome and no amount of power or gifts or caresses will get Light to fully forgive you for what you will put him through."

"I understand, Watari."

"And if I die, please make sure that Linda and the others won't get lost during the reconstruction process."

"I'll keep them safe. Goodnight, Watari."

"Goodnight, L."

L did not sleep (as a god, he didn't really need it), but he spent the night thinking about his first meeting with Light and fantasized once again about the life he might have with Light if he were to survive their duel as well as some things they could do before the HSF is taken down.

He knew that Watari was right when he said that Light would be slow to forgive him, but he also knew (or at least he hoped he knew) that the grudge wouldn't last forever and that at some point, whether L was alive or not, Light would see that this is for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished another entry to this AU, after staying away for several months.
> 
> This was initially going to be another one-shot, but then the document for the first chapter was about to expire and it still wasn't finished so I split this into two chapters. This probably will happen with future entries, especially since I'm not sure how linear the story will be; the other characters that are monsters are going to get their turns in the spotlight as well as introducing other characters that haven't appeared yet (some other Death Note cast members, others OCs) and since this is supposed to be a harem romance (while L/Light is the only relationship tag I've used so far and in a way it is the endgame ship [If I ever get around to writing the end, looking at my inconsistent writing schedule], it is by no means the only ship in this series), there will be "endings" for Light with these characters, some pleasant, others not-so-pleasant (this is horror).
> 
> I will try to get back to this soon; first I need to write another chapter for "I Move the Stars for No One," finish a one-shot for a contest entry that isn't Death Note related that I may publish here when it's over, and I also need to deal with all the chaos that comes with moving out of my parents' house (it looks like it's happening).
> 
> See ya!


End file.
